


Miss Arendal

by feistypantsxo



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-02-25 16:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2628194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feistypantsxo/pseuds/feistypantsxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nursery Teacher AU. Anna is a newly qualified nursery teacher in a British school. When one of the children in her class starts acting up, it leads to a chance encounter with the child's adoptive older brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Okay kids, remember, toys must go back once you've finished playing with them. We don't want a repeat of yesterday!"

"Yes Miss Arendal" the class replied, jumping to their feet and scurrying off.

Anna couldn't deny she was exhausted. She had been up until the early hours of the morning finishing a policy document for her nursery class. Being newly qualified was hard, she decided, she wasn't as practiced at this than other teachers. Gerda, the classroom assistant had been here for years. She sympathised with Anna more so than the other teachers who simply waved a hand and said "You'll learn".

"Here, Anna" Gerda said, approaching her at that moment with a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

"Mmm, thanks Gerda!" Anna said taking a sip and sitting back in her chair, watching her class at free play before yawning widely.

"Were you up all night with that blasted paperwork again?"

"Only until two this time!" Anna told her.

"Still far too long" Gerda said "How did you even manage to get up this morning?"

"My sister"

Elsa had woken her up bright and early with pancakes before hurrying out to work herself. She really owed her sister an awful lot. Letting her move in with her after university like that was sweet enough but she always made sure Anna was fed and watered before she left the house and when she came home too.

"She's a good one that sister of yours" Gerda told her.

"I know, I wish she wouldn't work herself too hard"

"What is it she does?"

"She's a graphic designer. Currently she's working on the new shopping centre in town. It's a lot of work for her and…"

"AHHHHHH" A tiny voice squealed across the room from the dressing up corner.

Anna jumped up to see Lizzie screeching at the top of her lungs, a police helmet clutched under her left arm and Sven's teeth clamped around her right.

"SVEN! STOP THAT AT ONCE!" Gerda cried as she and Anna hurried over. Gerda took hold of Lizzie and took her to the toilets to dry her eyes while Anna grabbed Sven's hand and led him over to sit on the carpet while she knelt in front of him. It wasn't the first time he'd been in trouble. She'd only been here two months and he was the first name she learnt in her class, mainly from having to shout it at the top of her lungs across the classroom after he had snatched from, bitten, hit or kicked another of his classmates.

"Sven" Anna sighed "We talked about the biting last week. It's not nice."

Sven glared at the floor, his face screwed up and brown hair falling into his face so Anna couldn't see him. Anna slumped, laying on her front and looked up at Sven from the floor so she could see him. He smiled slightly at his teacher before remembering that he was supposed to be angry and he shuffled away from her slightly

"Why did you bite her?" Anna asked, moving again so she was looking up at him.

"She said I wasn't allowed to play the policeman game"

"That's not really a great reason to bite her, Pal" Anna said.

"She said it was because her daddy's a policeman and I don't have a real daddy so I couldn't play"

"Ah" Anna said, sitting up. She still wasn't entirely sure how to deal with this problem. Sven had recently been adopted in the summer by a local family after ending up in the foster system as a baby. She thought for a moment, looking down at the tiny three year old in front of her, sat cross legged and staring so hard at the floor that he was in danger of burning a hole into the carpet, and decided to give him the truth.

"You know, Sven, I don't have a daddy either"

Sven looked up at her then.

"Why?" he asked

"Well, he died when I was little. I just had my sister. It was hard sometimes but we never bit people" Anna told him, feeling a dull twinge in her chest as she looked into the little boys eyes and saw the same look of confusion and anger that had been present in her eyes for so many of her teenage years. She pulled him into her lap and he cuddled into her as she gave him a big hug.

"But you need to remember Bulda and Cliff love you so very much and they're going to look after you, just like they have with all your new brothers and sisters"

Sven didn't reply, just clutched to Anna. She lifted him and carried him back to her seat where they sat in silence as she held him close.

"You know" she whispered after a while "I am going to have to tell Bulda about this. We made that deal after you bit James"

"She's not picking me up" he told her "my brother is"

"Okay well I'll have to mention it to him, alright?"

Sven shrugged against her shoulder and was quiet again until it was time for dinner.

"What did Sven say?" Gerda asked when the class had been dismissed for lunch.

"I think he's struggling with the adoption" Anna said.

"The poor mite" Gerda sighed "he needs to stop the biting though"

"I know; I'm going to mention it to his brother when he picks him up this afternoon".

She couldn't be certain but it sounded like Gerda chuckled.

Home time came soon enough and the children gathered their coats. Parents were already waiting in the playground so Anna opened the door and began dismissing her class.

"Sven, will you please tell your brother I need to speak with him before you go?"

Sven nodded and hurried out into the sea of grown-ups. The final members of the class filed out and Anna turned back to pick up some dropped wellington boots when there was a voice behind her.

"Miss Arendal? Sven said you wanted to speak to me?"

Anna stood straight and turned to face the voice coming from the doorway. She froze and gazed up at the tall, muscular blonde, holding a Thomas the Tank Engine backpack and the hand of tiny little Sven. His black tee shirt was tight and outlined an impressive chest and his jeans were low enough that the waist band of his boxer shorts was just visible. His blonde hair fell into large, chocolate coloured eyes which stared back in to her own blue ones. She continued to stare at those eyes and began to feel as though she was floating.

"Miss Arendal?" he asked again, frowning slightly.

"Mmm? Oh! Yes! I, um, yes" she stammered, blushing furiously "It's about Sven. We caught him biting again today. We've given him plenty of chances, but I did say last time I would have to report home if it happened again"

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed and he sighed, before crouching to look Sven in the eye.

"Is this true, buddy?" he asked.

Sven nodded, looking at the floor again.

"We talked about this after you bit Melody in the garden, it can't happen. I think you need to apologise to Miss Arendal, she doesn't need to deal with you biting people; she already has a lot to do"

"I'm sorry Miss Arendal" Sven mumbled.

"It's okay, sweetheart" Anna said crouching too "but will you promise no more biting?"

"Yes" Sven replied.

"Good" she said

"Okay, bud, do you wanna head to the car? Your sisters already waiting for you"

Sven hurried off without another word leaving Anna alone with the blonde.

"I'm really sorry about this" the blonde said "he's just taking some time to settle, his last place was pretty rough"

"I totally understand" Anna told him.

"He doesn't really listen to my parents at the minute. He's still testing them. He seems to be doing okay with me though. Actually…" the blonde fished in the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a crumpled receipt, smoothing it out slightly before picking up a red crayon from the side and scrawling on the scrap of paper "this is my number. I know you have my parent's number on the contact sheet but I'm working nearby at the minute so if you have any problems during the day, give me a ring and I'll come and talk to him"

"Thank you" Anna said, taking the paper and trying not to drown in those brown eyes again.

"Well I'd better get him home"

"Of course"

"I'll see you around Miss Arendal"

"Anna" she blurted before she could stop herself.

He smiled slightly and her stomach did a backflip. She felt her cheeks glowing and wished there was a human shape hole in the floor she could step in to and disappear.

"I'm Kristoff" he told her "well, see you!"

He left and Anna remained stood staring at the doorway for another five minutes before Gerda entered.

"Anna? Are you okay?" she asked, snapping Anna from her trance.

"Yes, I'm fine. I, uh, just talked to Sven's brother"

"I'm guessing by that expression it was the blonde"

Anna nodded.

"You might want to splash your face with cold water, girl. I can feel the heat all the way over here" Gerda laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna drove home in a stunned silence. Surely not one encounter with a stranger could have left her feeling like this. He was just a random guy who happened to be picking up his brother from school… a guy who gave her his number. Sure, it was for emergencies but still, a girl can dream right?  
“Give it up, Anna” she told herself, getting out of the car on the driveway and was quickly distracted by the distinct lack of Elsa’s car again. Anna sighed; her sister was working far too hard. She was going to collapse soon if she wasn’t careful. She entered the empty house, kicked off her shoes and turned on lights as she went, throwing her coat and bag down on the sofa and heading to the bathroom to run a bath so she could relax before returning to her paperwork. Urgh, so much paperwork. She needed to push the big hunky blond man as far out of her mind as possible otherwise she wasn’t getting anything done at all.   
Elsa returned home as she was finishing drying her hair, the slam of the front door making her jump even over the sound of the hairdryer. She must have had a really bad day; Elsa never slammed a door usually; that was Anna’s job. At this, Anna came out to the living room to find her sister sprawled on the couch, a cushion over her face. She was clearly exhausted.  
“So how was your day” Anna asked, frowning slightly, before sitting at her sisters feet on the floor.  
“ARGH!” Elsa yelled into the pillow, before pulling it away from her face and glowering at her sister. “I don’t know why I bother sometimes. Steve is totally incompetent. It’s like he can’t follow a simple instruction without almost causing a need for a total re-start on everything”  
Anna nodded sympathetically. It wasn’t the first time Elsa had had problems with Steve. Steve didn’t seem to like the idea of a woman being in charge of the project. Anna had a few choice words saved up for this Steve, which was partially why Elsa never let Anna come to her work with her. The redhead was not known for keeping her mouth shut when she felt strongly about something. It had gotten her into trouble plenty of times in the past.  
“Anyway distract me, how was your day?” Elsa asked.  
“Oh, y’know, it was just ordinary. We had another biting incident with Sven again”  
“Really?”   
“Yeah, but I think he’s acting out because of the adoption”  
“Oh, I see” Elsa spoke, much calmer now. Anna had mentioned Sven on numerous times; hoping Elsa could give her some help on how to calm him. So far, Elsa had struggled as much as Anna had for a solution.  
“Mmm, so hopefully it’s just a phase until he settles down better and he might stop” Anna said.  
“It must be tough on him though”  
“The family he’s with are lovely. They foster and adopt plenty of children, there’s another girl in the school I believe but I think she’s about eight? Then I’m sure someone said there’s another four”  
“Plenty of siblings then” Elsa said “Siblings are just the kind of support you need sometimes” she leant over to squeeze Anna’s shoulder and smiled, before getting to her feet “you hungry?”  
“Are you kidding? I could eat an entire horse!”  
“Well lets order from that Chinese down the road then. Order that funny looking meat dish again and you might be in luck”  
Anna giggled “Somehow, I don’t think it’s worth the vomiting aftermath”  
“Pizza instead?” Elsa asked  
“Much better, you call though; my phones in my coat there. Speed dial 7”  
“You pig” Elsa laughed, reaching for Anna’s coat and rifling through the pockets.  
Anna lay across the floor to turn the television on and reach the remote when Elsa cleared her throat.  
“And Kristoff is…?”  
“Huh?”  
Anna turned to find Elsa holding the crumpled receipt in her hand.  
“Oh, um, that’s Sven’s brother”  
Elsa raised her eyebrows.  
“He came to pick him up and I had to tell him about the biting incident so he gave me his number in case of emergencies”  
“And it’s in your pocket?”  
“Well it was the end of the day; I guess I just put it in there”  
“You’re blushing”  
“Am not!”  
“Are to! Why are you blushing?”  
“I’M NOT!”  
“Hmm” Elsa stared at her brick red sister for a moment before turning away. She said no more on the subject and dialled for the pizza before sitting down and pulling her laptop on to her knee, more than likely to begin more work. Anna decided she’d better take a leaf out of her sister’s book and climbed up onto the sofa next to her, pulling her bag towards her and taking out her paperwork, continuing where she left off last night. There was silence except the dull hum of the voices on the TV and Elsa’s fingers typing away on her keyboard.   
Anna got up when the delivery man arrived and they ate, making small talk before discussing the plans Elsa had for the shopping centre. Elsa still continued on her laptop while Anna munched through another slice of pizza.   
“Didn’t picture that, that is for sure” Elsa said suddenly.  
“Picture what?” Anna asked, confused. They had been discussing Elsa’s work hours before her outburst that had nothing to do with the topic.  
Elsa tilted her laptop to face Anna. Her sister hadn’t been doing any work at all, but instead had been browsing a social network site. Anna stared in stunned silence at Kristoff’s face on the screen. It was his personal profile.  
“How on earth did you do that?” Anna asked, resisting the urge to stare too hard at the screen.  
“It was easy” Elsa said, grinning and holding up some of the paper Anna had pulled from her bag. It was the emergency contact sheet. “I just typed his name with every last name on here. Didn’t take long; Bjorgman wasn’t that far down the list. I thought I had one earlier with a Kris Anderson but he didn’t look like the type of guy who would make you blush. Looked a bit of a cretin if I’m honest”  
“You are a sly one, Elsa Arendal” Anna smirked, turning her eyes back to the screen.   
In his picture he was smiling again, wearing a red and white checked shirt and his blonde hair slightly flopping into those big brown eyes. She tried her very best not to drool on Elsa’s keyboard.  
“Looks a nice guy, much better than that last prick you brought home”  
“Elsa!” Anna warned, snapping her back into reality with a nasty sting in her chest.  
“Sorry. I know, don’t mention him”  
She continued to scroll down his page.   
“Kristoff Bjorgman. He seems genuine, a builder, seems to know a lot about cars judging by some of these posts, I see no mention of a girlfriend here either, you’re in luck little sis!”  
“OooKAY, I think we’ve had enough of Elsa the Stalker for one evening!” Anna told her, reaching over and closing the web page.   
“Party pooper” Elsa scoffed. Anna just picked up another slice of pizza and took a huge bite out of it.  
“It’ll never happen anyway, I can’t even look the guy in the eye without making a fool out of myself”  
“why?” Elsa laughed  
“Cause he’s just so, so pretty!”  
“What is the matter with you?” Elsa asked, snorting from laughing so hard.  
“I don’t know! I’ve never had this problem before. What if it affects my teaching? If he comes to the classroom I’ll make a fool of myself again. I’m quite certain I looked a total idiot, just staring at him!”  
“Anna, it won’t have been that bad. Look, he’s only Sven’s brother, chances are you’ll only see him every so often when his parents are busy and he has to pick him up”  
“I hope you’re right” Anna muttered “I need wine”  
“It’s a school night!” Elsa called, laughing again as Anna stalked off to the kitchen shouting back about this all being Elsa’s fault.


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa woke Anna next morning with bacon sandwiches. It was Friday. One more day to go, Anna thought, and then two whole glorious days off.   
“You might want to eat on the run” Elsa told her “You’re late”  
“Ah hell!” Anna cried, tumbling from the bed, her bed clothes twisted around her feet.   
“I said you shouldn’t drink on a school night!” Elsa chuckled, leaving Anna to dress.  
She tied her hair in a messy bun and pulled on some black trousers and a green floral shirt, reaching for her matching green cardigan, whilst hastily brushing her teeth. She grabbed her bag and the bacon sandwich, which Elsa had placed in a small paper bag; she was going to have to shove this in her face on the drive if she wanted to eat sometime before lunch.  
She arrived at the nursery with minutes to spare, running through the corridors and bounding into the classroom. Gerda, the angel, has already begun to set up. Anna flung her coat and bag into the store cupboard and opened the door to greet the children. She greeted each child individually, listening to them tell her of their evenings and show her toys they had brought in specifically to boast about.   
“Look! it even shoots these pretend bullets so they don’t hurt!”  
“That’s wonderful, Tom, but let’s put that in our bag before someone loses an eye shall we?”  
“Anna- Ah- Miss Arendal” a deep voice, definitely not belonging to any child spoke to her. She gulped and turned, looking up into those horrendously hypnotising brown eyes again for the second time in twenty four hours.   
“Kristoff” she smiled, flushing slightly.  
“I just wanted to say that Sven got a stern telling off last night from our parents and there should be no problems today”  
“Oh, well thanks for letting me know” Anna replied.  
“Not a problem”  
They looked at each other for a moment, something unreadable on his face. They both opened their mouths to speak at the same time;  
“I wanted to-” he began.  
“Well I should-” she started.

They both stopped and he chuckled, he actually chuckled. She felt her knees go weak and she leant casually against the wall beside her for support, forgetting about the coat pegs.   
“Ow” she hissed as she was jabbed in the arm by an empty one. That was going to leave a nasty bruise. He appeared to not notice, or at least had the decency not to mention it.   
“What were you going to say?” he asked her.   
“I should probably go and get the class settled, people will think I do no work otherwise”  
He chuckled again.  
“What were you going to say?” She asked him.  
“Oh, er, I, I was just going to, um, remind you that you have my number, so any problems give me a call and I’ll be straight down” He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and she tried not to stare at his biceps, or the bottom of his blue t-shirt that rose slightly as he lifted his arm.  
“Thanks” she smiled, staring at his face instead. Big mistake; there were those eyes again. “I will do. I mean I won’t. I mean, I hope there won’t be any problems today”   
Dear Lord.  
“Miss Arendal, are you coming to do register?” Amy asked, tugging on her trousers.  
“Yes, one moment” Anna told the child and reminding herself to find an excuse to give Amy a sticker later for saving her from further embarrassment.  
“I’ll see you round” Kristoff told her.  
“Yes, definitely” she smiled far too wide and he raised his eyebrows before appraising her for a moment. She was ready to smash her head into the wall beside her, coat pegs be damned.   
“By the way, Miss Arendal” he muttered, looking around the room and leaning in closer, so close she could smell his aftershave and it made her dizzy “your cardigan is inside out”. He pulled away again and headed for the door, looking back and waving slightly before disappearing out of sight.  
Anna looked down at her inside out cardigan and turned the colour of beetroot. Not only that, she had ketchup on her shirt from the bacon sandwich she had hastily crammed into her mouth on the drive to work.   
“Congratulations Anna, you’ve become the world’s greatest moron” she sighed to herself, before heading over to her class.  
The morning began normal enough, Anna regained herself, remembering where she was, and read a story and led the class in some activities based on the book. Everyone, Sven included, seemed very well behaved. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or slightly disappointed. Gerda approached her again whilst they supervised outdoor play.  
“So what did the brother have to say this morning? I’ve never seen him drop Sven off before”  
“He’s working nearby, he said yesterday” Anna shrugged, hoping to keep this humiliating little crush to herself “he just wanted to let me know that Sven got into trouble last night about the biting”  
“Explains why he’s been so good today” Gerda commented and they both turned towards the sandpit where Sven was quietly filling a bucket of sand himself and making a row of castles. The other children seemed to be giving him a wide berth, avoiding the sand altogether. Anna surveyed Sven for a moment before registering just how lonely the little boy looked.  
“I’m going to go talk to him for a while” Anna told Gerda, who nodded.  
“Hey buddy” Anna said, approaching him “What you building here?”   
“A wall” Sven replied.  
“Ooh, cool! Can I help?”  
Sven shrugged so Anna picked up a spade and began filling a bucket.  
“So what’s the wall for?” she asked.  
“For my garden”  
“Your garden?”  
“Kristoff is building one and he said I can help”  
“Oh I see, so you’re practicing?”  
Sven nodded. They remained quiet while Anna added the castle to Sven’s row. He added one beside it and they filled their buckets again.  
“You can come and help” Sven told her.  
“Oh I would love to! But I think I’d just get in the way”  
“You can hold my bucket” Sven told her “and Kristoff’s too. He thinks you’re nice”  
“He does?” Anna asked, blushing slightly and busying herself with the castle.  
“He told Bulda last night he thinks you’re a good teacher”  
“Well that was very nice of him” Anna said, smiling slightly and fighting the blush down.  
“Miss Arendal?” He asked  
“Yes Sven?”  
“Do you miss your mummy and daddy?”  
Anna put down the bucket and looked at the little boy, his brown hair full of sand and his green coat zipped up so high she could only see his dark eyes and tiny little nose sticking out from over it. She wanted nothing more than to squeeze him tight and tell him everything would be okay.  
“I do” she said “but like you I was lucky to have lovely people who would look after me”  
He stared at her for a moment and she was dying to know what was going around in his head but before she could ask, he picked up his shovel.  
“The wall isn’t big enough yet”  
\---  
Gerda dismissed the children that evening while Anna finished an Email to the nursery leader. She never saw who picked Sven up and she was almost relieved when Gerda shut the doors and picked up the stray leaves that had blown into the classroom.  
“Is there anything else you need me to do tonight Anna?”   
“No, that’s fine Gerda, get yourself home. I’m just going to place the order for the new paints and I’m heading off myself”  
“Well then, have a great weekend”  
“You too!” Anna smiled and Gerda left.   
Once the order was placed Anna locked up and headed for the car. She was last again. That’s what you get for being late, she thought glumly. She got into the car and turned the key. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing.   
“You cannot be serious!” Anna cried, frantically trying to start her car.  
Not a sound, not a movement.  
Letting out a frustrated screech she grabbed her phone off the seat next to her and dialled her sister.  
It went to voicemail. Of course, she would still be at work!  
Scrolling through her phone, she looked for someone who could help. Gerda would be almost home now; it wouldn’t be fair to ask her to turn round. It was too far for Anna to walk home too.   
Anna opened her bag and rifled through, searching for her purse to see if she could afford a bus, when her hand closed around a crumpled sheet of paper.  
“He thinks you’re nice” Sven’s voice echoed in her mind.  
She couldn’t, could she? She unfolded the receipt and looked at the red crayoned number scrawled on the back.  
No she couldn’t, it was not professional in the slightest. Sven didn’t need any more confusion.  
But he’s working nearby, if he didn’t pick Sven up, he’s somewhere round here.  
No Anna, he would probably be at home now, right?  
“Argh!” she went back to her phone and picked the one number she had really been avoiding.  
He answered on the first ring,  
“Anna?”  
“Hans, I know we agreed not to speak to each other while on this break, but I really need a favour”


	4. Chapter 4

“You know you could have just phoned for a call out?” Hans told her as he attached jump leads to her car battery.   
“Well I panicked, I didn’t even think about that” Anna stood by the side of the cars, shivering slightly.  
“Maybe you just missed me” he said, turning and winking at her.  
“Yeah, Yeah” she waved her hand at him and looked around the empty car park. That was the last time she stayed late putting orders in.  
“Okay, let try this” he told her, jumping in his car as she got back in her driving seat ready to jump start her car.  
It didn’t work. They tried three more times and there was nothing. Anna’s car was completely flat.   
“Damn it!” she cried, slapping the steering wheel. Hans tapped on her window and she opened the door.   
“Phone please” he asked, putting his hand out.  
“Why?” she asked.  
“So I can call the garage for you. I don’t think it’s something you’d want to be doing”  
“Fine” she sighed, handing her phone over. He wandered off towards to road while he made the call and Anna gathered all her favourite CD’s from the car and crammed them into her bag, depositing it in the back seat of Hans’ car before getting in the passenger seat herself. He joined her moments later.  
“They’re sending us a tow truck. We just need to sit and wait.” He told her, handing Anna’s phone back to her.  
“I should let Elsa know” she said, and began a short text to her sister explaining she would be late home. They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at passing cars on the road before Anna could take it no longer.  
“So how have you been?”  
“Oh, fine. The company scored a huge deal last month so we’ve been kept incredibly busy with that”  
“That’s great news” she smiled over at him.  
“It is. How is teaching?”  
“I love it! Much better than being a retail assistant that’s for sure. It’s a lot of work of course, but definitely worth it. I like making a difference to kid’s lives”  
“Mmm” he said, eyes glued to his phone. Anna sighed slightly and glued her eyes to the road again. This was exactly why they were on a break. He had no interest in her life. It was all about work and getting promoted any way possible. Anna came second to work, always.  
“Here” he said taking her by surprise and handing his phone to her. There was an image on the screen of a baby. A boy she guessed by the swaddle of blue blankets.  
“Claire had the baby?” Anna asked.  
“Yep, about three weeks ago” Hans told her “I’m now officially an uncle”  
“Well it’s about time one of your brothers started having babies. There’s that many of you”  
Hans laughed. Maybe he had changed? Maybe a baby in the family would have made a difference. He wasn’t the youngest anymore, there was someone below him.  
“So what’s his name?” Anna asked.  
“William”  
“Aw, that’s cute” she told him.  
“Yeah”

They sat quietly, exchanging only comments on how cold the weather had become as of late, until the truck arrived. Anna thanked her lucky stars it was the weekend and she wouldn’t be in desperate need of her car until Monday as Hans followed the tow truck away from the school.

By the time they arrived back at Anna’s, Elsa’s car was already in the driveway. Ann gulped slightly at the thought of Elsa’s reaction when this sleek, black machine pulled up outside once more. Elsa had been all too gleeful when it had made the final exit months ago. Good riddance had been the words she used before handing a sobbing Anna the box of tissues. As Hans cut the engine, Anna noticed a twitch of the living room curtains. Clearly this car didn’t sound like Anna’s little, green “tin can”, as it was so lovingly described as by others. Anna stepped out the car as the front door was flung open and Elsa came hurrying down the path.   
“Anna!” she called “I got your message, what happened? Where’s the car?”  
“It’s gone to the local garage, and they’ll see what they can do over the weekend” Hans answered for her, stepping up beside the redhead.   
“I believe I was talking to my sister” Elsa glared at him coldly.  
“Elsa!” Anna scalded “Hans was nice enough to come and pick me up this evening and sort out having the car towed away. We can at least be civil, can’t we?”  
Elsa sighed “You’re right. Hans, thank you for bringing my sister home safely. I shall take it from here. If you could leave me contact details for the garage, that would be greatly appreciated”  
“Of course” Hans said, taking a sheet of paper out of his briefcase and writing the details for Elsa.  
“Thank you” Elsa said, taking the paper and heading up the path “come on Anna, its cold out here.”  
Anna turned to Hans.  
“Thanks for tonight, seriously, you saved my life”  
“Don’t mention it” he grinned.  
“Well, I better go, I have to go” she said, looking away from piercing green eyes and tripping slightly over the corner of a small garden wall “dammit” she hissed.  
“Anna” he said, and she looked back at him “can I take you to dinner one night next week? To catch up properly?”  
“Is that really a good idea?” she asked, grimacing at the thought of more potential heartbreak.  
“I think it’s a perfect idea, it will give us a chance to reconnect, maybe a fresh start? Plus, you do owe me now” he winked.  
“Then sure” Anna agreed “just give me a call and we will sort something”  
“Wonderful” Hans said “then I shall see you very soon” he placed a hand on her cheek for a fleeting moment and she felt herself sinking into it. Then, in a flash, it was gone and Hans was getting into the car.   
She watched him drive away before turning to the twitching living room curtains again, sighing as she traipsed slowly up the path and preparing to deal with the repercussions from an incredibly over-protective big sister.  



	5. Chapter 5

Kristoff Bjorgman had always been a simple man.

He never really took pleasure in the finer things. He didn’t need a big TV or a three storey mansion. He had everything he needed in the warmth of a loving family. When Kristoff was seven years old, he finally found his place. His mother had died when he was two of a very long illness and his father, unable to cope with the grief and a demanding toddler had put Kristoff into care and never came back for him. That took some adjusting to. So Kristoff was passed from pillar to post, foster home to foster home until Bulda and Cliff found him. He had been a sullen little thing, reluctant at first to let them take him out for the day. It was probably going to end in disaster, as it always did for him. They took him to the fair and he refused to let himself enjoy the day trip, even if it was nice to be out of the home, away from the bigger kids who teased him. Oh, how he wished he would grow quicker and tower over them so they would be intimidated by him for a change. By the end of the trip, he considered begging Bulda and Cliff to let him stay with them just a little longer. They were nice; nicer than all the other people who had taken him on day trips, but he held his tongue, knowing it would hurt more when he never saw them again.

But he did see them again, the following week. This time they had taken him ice skating. He had always loved the ice and snow at winter. He let himself enjoy the day a little more, surprised and warmed that Bulda and Cliff had returned. On the following week they took him to the cinema, then the coast the week after, and finally came the whole weekend trips. They took him to the coast again for two days as he seemed to enjoy it the first time round. He won a stuffed reindeer on a machine in the arcades on the pier and he was over the moon; he had never won anything before in his entire life.

“Well Kristoff, that’s a mighty fine reindeer you’ve got there” Cliff had told him.

“He is” Kristoff agreed “He’s going to be my best friend”

“Have you thought of a name for him yet, honey?” Bulda asked.

“Not yet, but it’ll be a really good one!” Kristoff exclaimed.

The reindeer ended up with the name Sven and he came on every outing after that with Kristoff. Kristoff was having lunch at Bulda and Cliff’s when Bulda chose to give Kristoff the news that would change his life forever.

“Kristoff?” she asked sitting across the table from him “how is Sven liking the home?”

“He doesn’t much” Kristoff told her, glancing at Sven on the table beside him “the other kids man handle him a lot” He scowled, making Bulda chuckle.

“Do you think Sven would like it better here, with me and Cliff and you if you like?”

Kristoff dropped his sandwich.

“You mean stay here? With you and Cliff? For how long?” He questioned her.

“For forever if you’d like, sweetie. We don’t want to just foster you, we want to adopt you”.

Kristoff flung himself into Bulda’s arms and that was the start of his happily ever after. 

After he got settled, along came the others. Jamie was first, and it was nice to have another boy around to play with, and then came the twins; Hannah and Jane. Melody was supposed to be the last. Bulda and Cliff had decided that was enough; the house was already too full. It was the day they were picking Melody up to take her home that Kristoff noticed the tiny little boy sat on the stairs. He was sat in the same place Kristoff had sat almost eighteen years previous, with the same dejected look on his face. It broke his heart slightly to watch and so Kristoff approached. 

“Hey buddy” he had said, making the little one look up “are you okay?”

The boy stared silently back at Kristoff as Bulda and Cliff approached.

“This one just came to us from another home” the care worker muttered to Bulda and Cliff “Poor little things had a terrible time. He came from a horrible family”.

“What’s your name buddy?” Kristoff asked, his gaze falling back to the tiny, terrified boy in front of him.  
The boy muttered something unintelligible. 

“His name is Sven” the care worker said.

Kristoff’s eyes flashed to Bulda’s and she looked as shocked as he was sure he did, both of their thoughts flitting to the stuffed reindeer that sat, pride of place, on top of Bulda and Cliff’s fireplace. It was a sign, it had to be. So in a matter of weeks, Sven came to live with them too, taking Kristoff’s old room now that he had moved into a place of his own.

A family that loved him; that was all Kristoff needed. 

Kristoff Bjorgman had also never been a jealous man.   
He had no reason to be. He’d got everything he ever wanted with his family. He would work, then see his family, then go home. That’s how it was for him and he was happy with that. At least he had been. Dating wasn’t something Kristoff was unfamiliar with; there had been a few girls in the past but they never seemed to last. After the last relationship he had ended particularly nastily he had given up on the whole dating thing and had enjoyed being single for a year. It was peaceful, comfortable and he was content.  
That was until Bulda had asked him to pick Sven up from school. Kristoff was quite sure Bulda had only asked him to do it do avoid confrontation in the playground with yet another parent whose child Sven had bitten, kicked or punched. Slowly Sven was cooling down, but it was going to take a miracle for him to go an entire week without attacking someone. Bulda and Cliff were at their wits end as he seemed to ignore their pleas for him to behave. Sven was a struggle for them; they weren’t getting any younger after all, so Kristoff tried to be of service as much as possible. Sven seemed to listen to him, to like him even.  
But of course the teacher had wanted to talk to Kristoff, of course Sven had been biting again. He would make this quick, assure the teacher it would be dealt with at home and let her get on with the other twenty nine children in the class, then he would get Sven home for tea before breaking the news about the biting to Bulda. What Kristoff didn’t factor in was Sven’s new teacher being so flawlessly beautiful that he would want to swing Sven round and thank him for misbehaving.  
Bulda had laughed when he had got home as he tried to explain Sven’s day to her.

“So you met young Miss Arendal then?”

“Uh yeah, she’s, um ,nice” he blushed and looked away from his mother.

“Indeed” Bulda chuckled “did she tell you anything I might need to know, that you remember of course?”

“Possibly?” Kristoff added, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. What had Anna actually told him?

Bulda teased him for most of the evening and somehow managed to rope him into taking Sven to school the next day. But Anna was beautiful, kind, amusing - even if she wasn’t aware of that – and incredibly smart. He wanted to find excuses to see her again, even if it meant taking Sven and his adoptive sister to school every single day. 

On Friday evening he left work late, Bulda wouldn’t be happy; she was expecting him for dinner. He sped off as fast as he could, to avoid he mother’s wrath but braked suddenly outside the school. Anna was still here. She looked stressed as she jumped out of her car. Should he go offer her some assistance? He was about to turn into the car park when he spotted the other figure, in shadow near the trees and on a phone. The man watched Anna move from her car into the black Mercedes opposite her car, a smug smile pulling at the corners of his lips. That was when Kristoff noticed the jump leads between the cars. Kristoff sped off without a backwards glance, growing slightly and glaring at the road in front of him.  
Of course she wasn’t single. How stupid of him to just assume. He was so glad he had never finished his words that morning. Asking her on a date while she was working, what an idiotic move that would have been.   
Wait, he argued with himself, who’s to say that is her boyfriend? It could be a friend, or a brother, or a cousin.   
With his stupid flashy Mercedes.  
The sky darkened, along with Kristoff’s mood as he sped off towards his parent’s house.


	6. Chapter 6

Door slamming was incredibly childish, he knew that, but it didn’t stop him shoving his car door so hard that the entire vehicle shook. Grumbling to himself, Kristoff continued up the garden path. Even though he was leaving work late, his day had been fine… up until twenty minutes ago.  
Bulda was already waiting in the hallway when he opened the front door; she must have heard the childish slamming. She took one look at him and opened her arms, sighing,   
“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing” he huffed, sliding past her waiting arms and into the living room.   
Sven was sat on the rug in front of the television, which was showing an old cartoon, playing with the old train set Cliff had gotten down from the attic. Kristoff slumped on the sofa behind the small boy and sighed. He should have known better than to get his hopes up. Getting ones hopes up always leads to disappointment, he reminded himself; no matter how many times Bulda, Cliff or anyone else told him otherwise. But he had been so sure, so certain, that she had seemed just a little bit interested in him.  
This is why you’re better off alone, he told himself; women are far too much drama.  
Speaking of girls, he suddenly realised how quiet his parent’s house was, which was an unusual thing since his other five adoptive siblings still resided there. After him, Jamie was the oldest at nineteen. He played every single sport his college had to offer and always thought himself a bit of a ladies man. Next were the twins, Hannah and Jane, both of whom were thirteen and although they looked identical, their personalities were polar opposites. Hannah was in to fashion; her allowance always going on clothes and makeup and jewellery. “You can never have too many accessories” she would say. Jane was quiet and liked books. She had more books than the local library, Kristoff was certain of it. She liked classics and fantasy best, although she had never told Kristoff why that was. Melody was eight, and came to them at the same time as Sven as they were in the same home. She was sweet and liked to be sociable but very rarely interacted with Sven. He had attacked her one time too many in her eyes and she rarely associated with him at school either, even though the nursery backed on to the playground.

“Ma?” Kristoff called out, and he listened to the footsteps hurrying from the kitchen. Bulda immediately bustled in holding a mixing bowl and wooden spoon in her hand. Baking again, he presumed. Bulda always liked to make her special rocky road. 

“Where is everyone?” he asked.

“Well, Melody is having tea at her friend’s house, Hannah and Jane are at the cinema and James is at football practice, so it will be just the four of us tonight” She smiled, seeming relieved that Kristoff had calmed down slightly. He gave her a half smile back. Maybe he would stay here tonight. He was been working so much lately that he had been neglecting spending time with his family which was something he knew Bulda would never forgive him for. He just wished he still had a bed but Sven had his old room now so he would have to make do with the couch.   
“Sven’s had a good day at school today” Bulda announced suddenly “He’s been very well behaved”  
Kristoff’s mood plummeted again at the mention of Sven’s school and he was almost certain Bulda could hear his teeth grinding together but he pushed it aside and turned to his little brother.

“Well done, buddy!” he praised him “What did you get up to today then?”

Sven shrugged, still looking at his trains.

“You can’t remember or you won’t tell me?” 

Sven shrugged again.

“Mrs Kittleson told me you were playing in the sand, building a wall” Bulda spoke up for him.

“Hey! That’s awesome, bud! Practicing for tomorrow?”

Sven did enjoy shadowing Kristoff at work sometimes, and he would come to small jobs with him. Tomorrow Kristoff was to build a wall for the elderly lady three doors down and Sven had been looking forward to helping. The little boy chose that moment to turn to look at Kristoff.

“It kept falling down” Sven told him and Bulda “But Miss Arendal showed me how to pat down the tops so I could make it taller”

Kristoff’s grin drooped slightly and he audibly snapped his teeth. He felt Bulda’s gaze shift from Sven to him.  
“Well… that was…” he cleared his throat “that was very nice of her”

“Kristoff, could I borrow you in the kitchen a moment please?” Bulda asked.

Reluctantly, Kristoff got up and followed her, leaving Sven to go back to his trains. When they entered the kitchen, Bulda shut the door and rounded on him.

“What is going on with you tonight?” she demanded.

“What? Nothing, I’m fine” he shrugged.

“You were fine when you picked Sven and Melody up for school this morning, now you’re sulking like a miserable teenager!”

So Kristoff hadn’t even slightly fooled her.

“Has something happened at work?” she asked

“No, no, work is great! It’s just… it’s nothing”

“Kristoff Bjorgman – I’ve cared for you since you were seven years old. I held you when you cried, I laughed with you when you were happy. I knew when you were happy, sad, angry, frustrated and scared. I can also tell when you’re being dishonest with me and right now, young man, you are lying through your teeth!”

She’d got him and she knew she had.

“Ugh! Okay, fine! But you’re just going to laugh”

“I promise you I will not laugh”

“Well it’s Anna. Miss Arendal”

“What’s wrong with her? Don’t you like her” Bulda asked.

“No, I like her fine” he assured her, then sighed. There was no getting out of this now. “But that’s my problem. I think I like her a little too much. Certainly more than is appropriate”

A grin slowly spread across Bulda’s face and she placed the bowl on the side before reaching up to her son and squeezing him tightly.

“I had a feeling!” she almost squealed “You seemed so fond of her last night. She’s a beautiful girl, and definitely very clever. She’d be an excellent match for you!”

“Ma! You’re jumping the gun a bit!” he interrupted “besides I’m pretty sure she’s not single so I won’t be taking her out any time soon”

“But how could you know that?” Bulda sounded almost devastated.

“I saw her on my way home, her car looked broken down. I was going to pull over and help but some guy in a Mercedes was already with her. She got into his car so I drove away before she could see me and think I was some sort of creepy stalker”

“So you saw her with a man? That automatically makes him her boyfriend?” Bulda raised an eyebrow.

“Well when you put it like that, it sounds stupid. But he was looking at her like, I dunno, like he was really into her”

Bulda snorted.

“I’m quite certain you’re reading far too much into it, son”

“Look, it doesn’t matter. I don’t even know the girl. It’s just, she honestly did seem interested at first”

“How so?”

“It’s hard to explain. She actually seemed like she wanted to talk to me this morning and I very nearly asked her out there and then. I’m so glad I didn’t now”.

It was those eyes, he thought, those big, blue, hypnotising eyes. 

“Would you like me to talk to her?” Bulda offered.

“God, no! Absolutely not! Don’t say a word about this to anyone! What kind of moron gets like this over a girl he’s only known all of two days?”

“I won’t say anything, I was just teasing” Bulda chuckled “But will you still take Sven and Melody to school on Monday?”

“I’ll think about it” he replied, leaving the room and the conversation behind him.  
He would not think about Anna for the rest of the weekend, he swore to himself, already knowing he was going to fail miserably.


	7. Chapter 7

“Parents evening” Anna groaned to her sister “Who invented parents evening?”

 She had called home in her lunch break to pick up some files for tonight and found Elsa had come home for her lunch too.   
  
“Probably someone who thought ‘hey what can we do to bug Anna in a hundred years from now’” Elsa chuckled, watching her sister fling herself onto the sofa.  
  
“Do you think they’d be mad if I didn’t turn up?” Anna joked.  
  
“Yes! Poor Gerda isn’t paid enough for that!” Elsa scalded her sister.  
  
“But I’m so not ready!”  
  
“That’ll teach you to leave things until the last minute wont it?”  
  
“It’s not my fault I forgot!”  
  
“Gerda said there was a notice in the staff room for a month” Elsa responded.  
  
“Stop checking in with my work colleagues, nosey!”

  
“Yeah, Yeah, you’re going to be late, now scoot!” Elsa hauled her sister from the sofa and pushed her towards the front door, cramming the files into her hands as she went.

 

Gerda took control of the class for the afternoon while Anna made sure everything was ready. She finally had everything printed and filed at home time. She dismissed the class and sat down, waiting for her first set of parents.  Alice’s parents arrived promptly with Alice in tow, much to Anna’s dismay. That was going to make it ten times harder.   
All in all, it wasn’t going to badly. She managed to remain professional, feigning confidence while inside she was petrified of saying the wrong thing. All the parents seemed pretty happy and even commented on how well organised she seemed to be with everything which she appreciated.

Sven was obviously going to be a difficult one so Anna had scheduled that appointment last. It hadn’t been a great week for the little boy. One of the kids in the other class had been teasing him and his anger had gotten the best of him and he had punched the older boy in the mouth. Bulda hadn’t been impressed when she had picked him up. Anna was hoping Bulda and Cliff had been the intelligent parents who had left the child at home. It was hard to discuss a kid when they were sat in front of you listening intently. At 5PM, the door to the classroom opened, as Anna pulled Sven’s file from her bag.  
She was surprised when the hunky, blonde piece of eye candy sat down in front of her. He had clearly dressed for the occasion, switching his usual tight fitting tee shirts for a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing his impressive forearms. He still wore his jeans, as always.  
  
“Um, hi?” She offered, what a moron.  
  
“Hi” he repeated, smiling crookedly and making Anna’s heartrate accelerate slightly, “Sorry” he continued “My dad, er, Cliff, had a bit of a fall so they sent me”  
  
“Oh gosh” Anna gasped “Is he okay?”  
  
“He’s fine, don’t worry, he’s just bruised his back slightly - he went down the stairs – so he’s resting”   
  
“Well that’s good then – not good that he fell obviously, but good that he’s not seriously injured”  
  
“Yeah” Kristoff said.  
  
“Um, so I guess I should show you some of Sven’s progress chart”  
  
Anna tried to remain incredibly professional, as she had with all the parents so far, showing Kristoff Sven’s progress , some of his drawings and writing he had been practicing. She successfully managed not to stare at him or drool. Then came the serious matter of Sven’s behaviour report.  
  
“Ah yeah” Kristoff shifted guiltily “I kind of need to confess something. The punching thing might have been my fault”  
  
“Oh?” Anna asked.   
  
“Yeah, well he’s been trying really hard to let things go. He doesn’t want to let people down; you and Bulda mainly. But he told me about this kid and I told him not to stand for it and to fight back. I think he may have taken it a bit too literally” Kristoff continued to sheepishly look at the table.  
  
Anna couldn’t help it. She started to laugh.  
  
“What?” he asked accusingly, raising his eyes to her.  
  
“You look like I’m about to really tell you off” she laughed harder.

He couldn’t help it. Her laughter was infectious and he joined in with her chortle. It took a moment for them to calm down and the atmosphere in the room changed, becoming so much more relaxed and Anna felt a new air of confidence wash over her, one that she had been feigning before. She felt on top of the world.  
  
“In all honestly” Anna spoke first, trying to breathe between words “My sister would have told me to do the exact same thing. I don’t blame you. And Sven’s been perfectly fine since”  
  
“Thanks” Kristoff smiled at her.  
  
“Uh I think we’re about done here. You can take this for Bulda to read through if you’d like and bring it back tomorrow or something”  
  
“That would be great, thanks. So is your car any better?” Kristoff asked, gathering up the report to take to Bulda.  
  
“Huh?” Anna asked, lamely.  
  
“The other night” he continued “I drove past on my way home and they were towing your car”  
  
“Oh! That, yeah its fine, engine trouble or something”  
  
“Ah I see” he smirked slightly at Anna’s lack of car knowledge.  
  
“My ex came to the rescue. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do” Anna needlessly volunteered the information and instantly regretted it. Why, oh, why did she mention Hans?  
  
“Your ex?” Kristoff asked. His smile seemed to grow, curiously, and Anna had to look away pretending to organise things in her bag, “Well” he continued, putting a hand out and placing it on hers to stop her; she prayed he wouldn’t feel the temperature of her skin rocketing “next time, you can always call me. I know a thing or two about cars”  
  
“I know” she told him, still looking at their hands, then immediately panicked and looked up “I mean I don’t know, you just, you look like you know cars. But thanks I’ll bear that in mind”  
  
This just got worse and worse.  
He pulled his hand back and Anna exhaled. They stood together, Kristoff following Anna out of the classroom and towards the car park. He began telling her about Sven and his new train set and Anna made a mental note to make sure she got the trains out of the cupboard in the morning for him, as Kristoff mentioned how settled they made him. She didn’t feel as nervous as she had in the past. Of course, this was possibly the longest conversation she had ever had with him and she found she could be totally normal with him. He was great. So kind and caring and boy he was hot. She turned to look at him, her eyes scanning his profile next to her. She watched as his eyebrows suddenly furrowed in confusion.  
  
“I thought you said he was your ex?” Kristoff muttered, making Anna turn to look ahead of them. She felt her heart plummet. Hans stood in the car park, his car pulled up behind hers, with a bouquet of red roses in his hand.  
  
“He is” Anna hissed back and Kristoff raised his eyebrows at her.  
  
“Are you going to be okay?” he blurted, immediately looking sheepish again and making Anna raise her eyebrows too.  
  
“Yeah, sure, I’ll be fine” she assured him, feeling slightly warmed by his concern. Maybe this crush wasn’t just all one sided? She shook her head at the thought – what nonsense!  
  
“Uh, well, goodnight Miss Arendal” Kristoff said, hesitantly resting a large hand on her shoulder before he turned and walked away. Anna watched him go, her shoulder on fire from his touch and her heart beating so fast she was certain it was about to explode. When he was out of sight she rounded on Hans, feeling as though he has intruded on a very personal moment.  
  
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.  
  
“Who was that?” Hans ignore her question.  
  
“Its parents evening” Anna reminded him.   
  
“Oh of course, forgive me. He’s a parent” he smiled and seemed to visibly relax.  
  
He’s a brother actually” Anna amended and Hans’ smile became a little too forced “You didn’t answer my question”  
  
“Well I went to yours but Elsa said it was parents evening so I thought I’d meet you here instead. Our date, remember?”  
  
“That was tonight?! Oh, Hans! I’m so sorry, I completely forgot!”  
  
“That’s not a problem. Shall we go?” He handed her the bouquet of roses and her heart softened a little. They were really quite beautiful and she was a sucker for roses!  
  
“Absolutely, I just need to drop my things at home and we can go straight off!”   
  
“Okay. I’ll follow behind”  
  
Anna got into her car, her head spinning slightly, trying not to focus on the dull tingling in her left shoulder that she had been trying to ignore or the roses on the passenger seat. She needed to get to her sister fast. She’d have the answers. 


	8. Chapter 8

Anna raced up the garden path in to the house, not giving Hans a chance to follow, and slammed the front door behind her.  
  
“Elsa?” She called.  
  
No answer.

Her car was here which meant so was she; Elsa didn’t know the neighbours well enough to go visiting, as Anna did. She must be in her room, Anna thought, moving through the house, checking the kitchen and dining room as she went. Elsa’s bedroom door was shut so she knocked.  
  
“Elsa? Elsa, please I know you’re in there!”  
  
Elsa liked her privacy but now there was no time for it, and Anna burst through the door, making Elsa jumped so far off her bed she almost landed on the floor, along with the book she had been reading. Pulling her headphones out of her ears, Elsa took in her little sisters face.  
  
“What’s wrong, Anna? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“I don’t know what to do!” Anna wailed.

“About what?” Elsa moved towards her sister and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

“Kristoff” Anna said simply.

“Sven’s brother?”

“He came to parents evening and we were getting on really well. He was so nice, and funny and sweet and I think we had this moment and then Han’s just had to ruin it!”

“I’m sorry, I’m confused?”

“When you told him where I was he came to meet me”

“Oh I see”

“And now I’m supposed to be going to dinner with him and he got me flowers but then I feel guilty because my shoulder hurts”

Elsa stared at her little sister for a moment, fearing she had completely lost it.

“What?”

“My shoulder! Kristoff touched me and my shoulder got all tingly and funny, you know, like it does to all those girls in books and movies and stuff. I think I really like him but I don’t know what to do Elsa!”

“Where is Hans?”

“Waiting in the car”

Elsa sat down on the edge of her bed and pulled Anna to sit beside her. She sighed heavily and spoke,

“Look, you know how much I cannot stand that man outside our house, so I may be a little biased, but maybe someone new would be good for you”

“But then I feel bad about agreeing to go out with Hans tonight”

“Okay, then I think you should go tonight, and dump him in the morning!”

“You’re a villain, Elsa Arendal!” Anna gasped.

“Or the greatest hero in the world, depending on how this plan works” she chuckled, before her face turned serious again “Anna, I can’t make this decision for you. I can only support you, whatever you decide – though I think you should choose blondie” she nudged her sister and winked, making Anna laugh.

“Okay, okay!” Anna got up from the bed “I’ll go tonight and take it from there”

~*~

It was a quick drive to Anna’s favourite restaurant and so they didn’t speak much in the car, which was not a wise decision as it gave Anna chance to let her mind wander, to imagine a different man sat in the driver’s seat, taking her somewhere nice. She visualised Kristoff in his formal shirt again, the sleeves rolled up revealing those impressive forearms and she found herself wiping drool away from the corner of her mouth. Her imagination ran amok again in the restaurant as Hans ordered her food for her and her foot caught his under the table. He pulled his feet back sharply; he had never been one for public affection. She wondered if Kristoff would be the same. Would he pull back too and pretend there had been no physical contact or would he allow her to let her slide her foot further, up the side of his long, muscular legs, his eyes staring hungrily into hers while his hands reached under the table to –

“Anna? Is everything alright?” a voice cut into her fantasy.       

“Huh?” she asked stupidly, coming back to earth with a bump.

“You seem very distracted tonight, is everything okay?” Hans asked, eyeing her with concern

“Oh. Yes. I’m fine. I’ve just got a lot on my mind, work stuff”

“Right…” Hans said, still eyeing her “Anything you want to talk about?”

“Not really? Just… one of the kids is sick. I’m a little worried about her” It was a half-truth; Ellie had gotten the chicken pox but the spots were scabbed over now.

“Oh the poor mite” Hans didn’t seem interested in talking about the trials and tribulations of toddlers so he changed the subject “How’s Elsa?”

“Good, over worked but still good. She’s still having issues with that Steve”

“Really? I thought they would have fired him by now!”

“You and me both”

They fell into a steady rhythm of conversation about Hans’ work, the food, Anna’s friends and their families, not giving Anna a chance to let her mind wander again until they were eating dessert.

“That gentleman seemed friendly earlier” Hans commented “Do you know each other well?”

“Not really” Anna focussed really hard on her chocolate cake “We see each other sometimes when he picks his brother up. His brother has a few behaviour issues but he’s working through them”

“So you won’t be seeing a lot of him then?” Hans stared at her forcing her to make eye contact.

“No, I guess not” she fought back a sigh and looked away from green eyes, scaring herself with how much she wished they were chocolate brown ones.  She didn’t fail to hear the mutter of “good” under her dinner date’s breath.

The drive home was peaceful enough and Hans put the radio on. Anna sang along to one of her favourite songs before staring out the window at the familiar surroundings of her street again. She couldn’t wait to get inside and tell Elsa about the evening and that she had made a decision. Chocolate brown eyes would make a welcome change.

“Anna” Hans said as she stepped out of the car “I’ll call you at the weekend and we can arrange to go out again. I know my mother is dying to see you”

Before she could decline, Elsa had opened the front door and was making her way down the garden path to stand beside her. Not wanting to embarrass him after such a pleasant evening she hurriedly spoke, giving no thought to what was tumbling from her mouth “sure, okay, talk soon” before she slammed the door, letting him drive away.

“So how was it?” Elsa asked.

“Fine” Anna sulked. She just wanted to get inside. Her last few words had ruined everything.

“Just fine?” Her older sister raised her eyebrows.

“Yep”

Anna stalked past her sister and began up the path, heading for her room. Elsa chose not to follow; Anna was never a one worded kind of girl unless there was a lot on her mind. The redhead collapsed on her bed and stared up at the dark ceiling. Why hadn’t she just said no? Wouldn’t that have made life so much easier?

 

~*~

She arrived at school on time for once the next day, grateful to avoid Elsa’s questioning. Anna had had a broken night’s sleep and had found herself staring at the clock from 5:00AM onwards before she had given up and rolled out of bed at 6.00AM. When she passed by the schools main reception, after parking her car, a voice called her back from where she just came from.

“Miss Arendal? Do you have a moment?”

Anna walked backwards toward to desk to be greeted by the friendly Mrs Aspen, the grey haired, bespectacled secretary and one of the older teachers Anna had not learnt the name of, giggling like children.  
  
“These were left for you this morning” Mrs Aspen told her, handing Anna a bouquet of beautiful yellow sunflowers, hand tied together with a deep blue ribbon. Odd, Hans always gave her roses.  
  
“Do you know who left them?” Anna asked the two women still giggling.

“No, it was a man from a florist delivering them. Isn’t there a card with them?” The teacher spoke.

Anna scanned the bouquet quickly.

“Nothing” she told them.

“Well here, there’s still time before the children arrive, I took the name and number of the florist off the side of the van. Give them a call!” Mrs Aspen handed Anna a slip of paper.

“You’re awfully interested in this aren’t you” Anna smirked taking the paper and reaching over the desk to the phone.

“It’s not all that fun being sat behind a desk all day, you know” she laughed.

Anna dialled and a woman answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, yes, I’ve just received some flowers from you, but I’m not sure where they’ve come from. There was no card”

“What name is it please, dear?”

“Anna Arendal”

There was the sound of rifling paper before the woman cleared her throat.

“Ah yes, Miss Arendal, the gentleman gave us specific instructions to not give you that information, were you to call”

“He did? You can’t tell me anything at all?”

“I’m sorry dear; he said it was of the utmost importance”

“Oh okay, well thank you anyway”

“Have a nice day, Miss Arendal”

Anna hung up the phone and turned back to her tiny captive audience that had remained silent during her phone call.

“Well?” Mrs Aspen asked eagerly.

“They can’t tell me. Whoever he was gave strict instructions not to” Anna frowned.

“A secret admirer, oh my day just got a whole lot more exciting!” Mrs Aspen chuckled.

“Well I better get these in some water” Anna said, hurrying off to her classroom.

Anna laid the sunflowers in the sink, trying not to smile at them. They were truly lovely, and one of her favourite flowers. Whoever it was must know her very well. Maybe it was Elsa, trying to cheer her up? No, the woman on the phone definitely said it was a male. It could have been Hans. Wasn’t he trying to prove he was a changed man? Changing his usual gift may have been a symbol of this?

Anna looked out the classroom windows into the playground where children were starting to gather for the morning. Sven was stood beside the Wendy House directly opposite her, laughing at Kristoff who was speaking to him and pulling strange faces. Anna found herself smiling too, watching him. Then something in her mind clicked and she looked down at the sunflowers before back up at the blonde man outside her classroom. It couldn’t have been who sent them, could it?


	9. Chapter 9

“Good morning, Anna” Gerda’s voice sounded across the classroom, filtering into Anna’s subconscious thoughts.

“Oh, yes, good morning Gerda” Anna waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the door from the hallway still staring, slightly dumbfounded, out of the window at the blonde man.

“Anna, are you alright?” Gerda was suddenly at Anna’s side. She followed the redhead’s line of sight and her eyes locked on Kristoff. She began to chuckle which made Anna turn to look at her, eye brows raised so high in danger of disappearing into her hairline. She didn’t think her dilemma was amusing at all. Of course, Gerda was all too aware of Anna’s infatuation. She spent six hours a day with her and Anna was such an open book that it didn’t take too long for Gerda to figure out why the class teacher had suddenly become such a bumbling fool. It was sweet really, Gerda thought. She had worked at the school for that long that she had gotten to know many of Bulda and Cliff’s large family.

“These flowers were waiting at the front desk this morning” Anna told her, indicating the sunflowers in the sink “I have no idea who they’re from – the florist wouldn’t tell me- and I’m weighing up the options”

“You think Mr Bjorgman sent them?”

Anna shrugged “We really hit it off yesterday at parents evening, it was so strange. It felt like we’d known each other years. I can’t shake this fluttery feeling in my gut when I think about him”

Gerda had moved towards the sink and was admiring the bouquet of sunflowers in her hands.

“Have you told him how you feel?” she asked.

“No, I only get to see him when he does drop offs and it doesn’t feel like a conversation I should have here in school. Besides I probably blew it last night when my ex turned up here after parents evening and they came face to face”

“Your ex showed up?!”

“Yep, and it was so awkward, but I was an idiot and I went with him rather than trusting my gut”

“Do you think that maybe he could have sent these?”

“He always sends me roses, but I guess there’s a chance”

“Hmm” Gerda put the sunflowers back in the sink.

Anna sighed before looking at the clock on the wall beside her. It was time to let the class in. She made her way towards the door to the playground and chewed her lip. She could confront him. It wouldn’t be professional and it would have to be out of ear shot of all the other adults and the children. Although, if he hadn’t sent them what an embarrassing situation that would be, not just for Anna but for Kristoff too. Anna unlocked the door, her mind still whirling. If he had sent them, and she asked him about it here what was she going to do about it? This was a place of work, a school too for pity’s sake. She couldn’t well throw her arms around his neck and declare everything she had been feeling for him. She opened the door as she made her decision. Now was just not the time.

Children began to file into the room and she greeted them all as normal, chatting happily with the parents about what the children had been up to last night, and the traffic on the way to nursery. Suddenly, Sven was in front of her, a great big grin on his face and a shiny red train clutched tightly in his little hands.

“Wow Sven! What have you brought today?” She asked the youngster who was practically bouncing up and down in anticipation. Anna had never seen the little boy so happy.

“Kristoff got them out of the attic last night!” he exclaimed, holding the train up for her to admire closer “he said I have to look after them carefully and I can keep them!”

“That’s great, Sven! If you want to keep it safe today, come and put it in my special drawer, okay?

“Thanks miss Arendal!” He sped off towards the carpet to show the others boys his new toy.

She realised, suddenly, that she was alone with Kristoff.

“Hey” she smiled up at him. God, why did he have to be so gorgeous? She felt her cheeks flush.

“Hi” he grinned back, his hand reaching up and rubbing his neck awkwardly.

“So… he liked the trains then?”

“Yeah” Kristoff chuckled “it was a struggle to get him to leave them and actually go to bed last night. I had to sing the kid to sleep again -” He snapped his mouth shut quickly, he face turning scarlet.

“You sing?” Anna asked.

“A little. I’ve played guitar since I was young. Bulda was always one for making us try new things”

“That’s great!” Anna told him, definitely a healthy environment for Sven.

“What about you?” he asked.

“M-Me?” she stammered, feeling completely put on the spot “Nothing really more than a drunken karaoke party with my sister. She’s a big fan of power ballads”

Kristoff laughed before smiling warmly at her. It was a different kind of conversation to the tense, forced ones with Hans last night. Talking to Kristoff was suddenly coming naturally, as easy as breathing.

“Well it looks like you have a lot to do today” Kristoff told Anna, glancing at the class seating themselves on the carpet behind her “I’ll leave you to it”

He turned and headed for the door. Anna made a snap decision and before she could stop herself, she was trailing after him.

“Wait!” she called as he reached the gate. They were completely alone now, out of view of the nursery and concealed from the car park by some large recycling bins.

“Miss Arendal?” he asked, confused as to what she was doing, following him.

“Um, I wanted to ask you something” she shifted her weight from one foot to the other awkwardly, watching Kristoff slowly tuck his car keys back into his pocket.

What was she doing? This was completely stupid. If she was about to get her hopes crushed she couldn’t go home and sulk, she had to teach a class of thirty children for six hours, a class that would include the hope-crusher’s younger brother.

She made the mistake of gazing into those big brown eyes and she gulped, completely at war with herself.

“Anna, what is it?” he asked stepping closer. She felt dizzy. He came even closer to her and she inhaled deeply, drawing in the scent of aftershave- it had a nice woodsy smell to it. She felt the urge to bury her face in his shirt and that’s when she knew she had to escape.

“You know what, it’s not that important. It can wait until later”

“Are you sure? You look a bit stressed” he offered a hand towards but seemed to think better of it and left it hovering between them.

She immediately stepped away. She would talk to him later when he picked Sven up.

“Yes, its fine it’s just about Sven’s reading, nothing to worry about” What a pitiful excuse. There was nothing wrong with Sven’s reading; in fact, he was pretty advanced for his age. Anna knew it, Bulda knew it and she was quite certain Kristoff knew it too.

“Well, okay then” Kristoff frowned slightly before clearing his throat “I’ll see you soon”

“Bye” Anna waved slightly as he walked away around the side of the building and out of sight.

That was when she groaned and made her way back inside to see Gerda who was taking the register. She looked up when Anna entered and did a questioning thumbs-up across the room. Anna responded with a grimace and a thumbs-down gesture.

 

“I couldn’t even ask him” Anna told her later on while the children had their morning snack. It was the first time they had gotten a moment to talk since Anna’s failed attempt to question Kristoff. She was still mentally kicking herself for being so gutless.

“He was just standing there, waiting for me to say something and I completely chickened out”

“Maybe you could try again later when he collects him?”

“Yeah, you’re right! Thanks Gerda!”

But much to Anna’s disappointment, Bulda came to collect Sven that evening.

 

Anna entered the school next morning to find sunflowers once again waiting on the front desk. After assuring Mrs Aspen once again that she had no idea who was sending the flowers, she placed them in the sink and gazed out the window. Bulda was dropping Sven off this morning. Anna sighed and began the morning routine, a little glum that she didn’t get a chance to speak to him again. She worried for a while that she had scared him off with her outrageous behaviour the previous morning, but she had a job to do and didn’t have the time to dwell on that thought.

The mysterious sunflowers were left at the front desk every day that week and Anna had decided that she had to attempt to eliminate the possibilities, one by one. She knew it definitely wasn’t Elsa. Her sister had been as confused about the gesture as she had been and had even tried contacting the florist herself but had no luck on finding out the sender’s identity either.

Hans hadn’t called Anna at all, so she was assuming he would wait until Friday evening to make plans with her, it wasn’t like she would have any other arrangements. Besides, with his work schedule, she doubted he would find the time to order a bunch of flowers every day.

Elsa and Anna weren’t very close to any family that was left of their parents and she didn’t think any of them even knew where they lived, let alone Anna’s work address. That really left nobody else but Kristoff and she knew it was time to confront the issue, even if it meant asking Bulda since she hadn’t seen Kristoff since that awkward encounter on Tuesday morning. The flowers were on Anna’s mind all day and that meant, until she knew who was sending them, she wouldn’t be able to relax.

Friday morning rolled around and Anna eagerly left for work. She and Elsa had spent half the night debating on how Anna would breach the subject of Kristoff with Bulda. Anna wanted to ask outright whether he was the one sending the flowers but Elsa reminded her that she was to remain professional at work. Instead she was to politely bring Kristoff into a conversation, mentioning how she had not seen him since Tuesday morning, before asking politely if there was any reason for it. It was a terrible plan, they both agreed, but it was the only one they had.  
Upon reaching the reception desk, Anna noticed something amiss. There were no sunflowers waiting for her. She even leant over, checking for anything amongst the paper work.

“Nothing today, dear” Mrs Aspen called from the paper copier.

They were from Hans. They had to be. She knew she was supposed to be arranging something with him tonight, and now there were no flowers. He would probably present her with some later. Anna’s heart sunk to the pit of her stomach. She didn’t realise how much she gotten her hopes up that Kristoff was just as interested in her as she was in him. Now she realised it had all been a silly fantasy in her head. Slowly, blinking back tears of disappointment, she made her way to the classroom. She didn’t even bother looking out of the window to see if he was there. What would it matter if he was? It would just hurt her more. Maybe Gerda should let the children in today, just in case.

Gerda took one look at Anna’s face when she arrived and knew something had happened.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Can you let the children in this morning? I promise I’ll tell you later”

“Absolutely”

Anna busied herself setting up the painting table while Gerda greeted the class, trying to shake the feeling of selfishness. Even if they were from Hans, she should be grateful he was taking the time to send her such lovely flowers. She ignored every conversation Gerda had, afraid to hear the voice she really didn’t want to. It would just be her luck that he did the drop off today. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, little hands were tugging at the bottom of Anna’s blue shirt.

“Miss Arendal?” Sven’s voice asked.

Taking a deep breath, Anna slowly turned and gasped, hand flying to her chest in shock.

“Kristoff asked me to give you this” Sven told her, holding up one single, yellow, sunflower. 


	10. Chapter 10

Anna sat down on her lunch break, still stunned from the mornings events. Everything had gone by in a blur. When Anna had taken the sunflower from Sven, Kristoff was nowhere to be seen. She had thanked Sven and told him to go and sit himself on the carpet for registration.   
The sunflower now sat in a plastic cup of water on the desk. Gerda, who had witnessed Sven give Anna the flower, had explained that Bulda had dropped Sven off again and had apologised to Gerda since she could not get Sven to put the flower down. Kristoff had left early for work and Sven had told her that he had given him a special job to do.   
While the children were reading a book with Gerda, Anna had made a quick text message to her sister explaining where the flowers had come from. Elsa had not yet replied, no doubt snowed under at work herself. 

This was madness, Anna thought as she unwrapped her sandwich, and yet incredibly romantic. She never would have dreamed the big, burly man would have this soft side to him. She felt almost giddy; the next move was hers. But what could she do? It had to be something nice and something forward to let him know that she was interested too.

Her phone began to vibrate against her leg. Turning it over, she saw Hans’ name and gulped. Luckily it was just a text message and she wouldn’t have to speak to him.

_“Dinner tonight?”_

She sighed and began to respond.

_“We need to talk”_

Then she promptly put her phone in her bag and vowed not to look at it for the rest of the day.

The afternoon session was fun. She had planned a creative afternoon and they were building robots out of different cardboard boxes. Sven sat beside her, covered head to toe in PVA glue. She knew she shouldn’t have favourites, but when she looked down at him concentrating on sticking a severed egg box to his robots head, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth and completely focussed, she felt such a fondness towards the little boy.

She wondered what he would make of her and his big brother.

Anna had never been so relieved to finish work for the weekend. Bulda had collected Sven so she had not had the opportunity to talk to Kristoff. At least Elsa would be able to help her out with organising her thoughts.

Anna pulled on some comfortable pyjamas and threw herself onto the sofa, turning the television on for some background noise when she finally pulled out her phone. Seventeen missed calls from Hans. Oops. Reluctantly Anna hit the call back button.

“Hello?” He answered on the third ring.

“Hi, its Anna”

“Oh. You could have called me sooner! I’ve been worried sick all day!”

She highly doubted it.

“I was working, I couldn’t have my phone”

“So what’s up? Are we going out tonight or not?” he sounded impatient.

“So here’s the thing. It’s a little awkward for me and – whoops I just knocked my drink over”

“Anna, quit stalling, what is it?” he demanded.

She sighed.

 “There’s someone else”

Hans was silent for a moment and Anna began chewing on her lip, waiting for the tirade of abuse.

“It’s that guy from the other night, isn’t it?” Hans spoke quietly, shocking Anna. He would usually have flipped out at her. This calm demeanour scared her more; she had no idea what he was thinking.

“No?” she lied, her voice octaves higher than usual, giving her away immediately.

“Don’t lie to me Anna. I saw the way you both looked at each other. Give me some credit at least”

“Okay, fine, yes it is. But it’s complicated. I’m really sorry; I just didn’t know how to tell you”

“Whatever, Anna” He hung up on her.

Well, that went easier than expected.

That was when Elsa bustled through the front door with a huge portfolio in her arms. She spied her sister on the couch and hurried over, flinging the book into the armchair.

“Anna! I didn’t have time to respond to your message! Tell me everything!”

So Anna repeated the day’s events to her sister, how there had been no flowers at the desk in the morning and how she had been so upset about it, Sven delivering the sunflower to her, which had now joined the others in the vases scattered around their living room, all the way up to her phone call with Hans where she had ended things, quite messily.

“I need to lie down; all this romance is too much!” Elsa teased, dramatically launching herself across her sister’s lap. Anna began to laugh, shoving her sister onto the floor.

“So what are you doing now?” Elsa asked, peering up from her new seat on the carpet.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t spoken to Kristoff?”

“Well no, he hasn’t been to the school for days”

“You fool” Elsa laughed “where is that phone number?”

Caught up in all the mystery and sunflowers, Anna had totally forgotten that she was in possession of Kristoff’s phone number. She mentally kicked herself for being so foolish. She could have called him at any time to put this whole thing to rest. Although, she was kind of glad she didn’t and that it had worked out this way.

“Should I call him?” Anna asked.

“Yes!” Elsa exclaimed.

“Now? Like, right now?”

“Anna, if you don’t do it, I will!”

“Okay, okay!” Anna reached over for her work bag and dug through to find the little scrap of paper Kristoff had scrawled his number on the very first time they had met. Anna picked up her phone and saw a new text message from Hans.

_“Slut”_

“Huh, and here I was thinking he was a changed man” Anna sighed.

“What?” Elsa asked, but Anna just shook her head. The last thing she needed was Elsa getting arrested for an assault charge.

Anna keyed then number into her phone and looked pointedly at her sister.

“I’ll be quiet, I swear!” Elsa pleaded.

“Not a chance” Anna chuckled, laughing harder as Elsa stomped from the room, reminding Anna of a child having a tantrum.

She looked down at the number in her phone and her laughter ended abruptly. So this was it. Nerves hit her like a wrecking ball as a shaking thumb pressed the call button. She put the phone to her ear, barely able to hear the ringing over her own heart, beating so hard she was afraid she would have to hang up and phone for an ambulance instead. Before she had any more time to think about it the ringing stopped and a voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Um, hi, is this Kristoff?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“It’s, um, it’s Anna”

“Oh” he cleared his throat “hey”

“Hi” she said again. She hadn’t thought this through properly.

“So, what’s up?” he asked, breaking the silence “is it Sven’s reading again?”

She heard the teasing tone in her voice and she laughed, before she could stop herself, relaxing immediately.

“Yep. That’s exactly why I called you. Sven’s reading. Nothing whatsoever to do with bunches of sunflowers turning up at my workplace”

“I see” Kristoff chuckled “Did you like Sven’s reading this week?”

“Yes. Sven’s reading was a lovely surprise for me. Really brightened my day”

“Just so we’re clear, we are talking about the sunflowers aren’t we?” Kristoff asked

Anna laughed even more. He was so easy to talk to. She wasn’t sure why she had been so terrified. She noticed her sister slip back into the room and seat herself in the armchair.

“Yes we’re talking sunflowers. They’re wonderful, thank you”

“You’re welcome” he replied.

She smiled and Elsa gave her a thumbs up signal.

“So I was wondering” he continued “if you maybe wanted to get together at some point and, uh, discuss Sven’s reading face to face?”

“I would love to!” Anna burst far too quickly, making Elsa shake her head and Kristoff chuckle again.

“Okay, great. So when is good for you?” he asked.

“Tomorrow night?” Anna suggested.

“Tomorrow night sounds good to me” he told her “Did you want me to pick you up?”

“That would be great” Anna told him.

“About seven?”

“Seven is perfect” She gave him her address and waited as he wrote it down.

“Okay, I’ve got it” he said “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yep, see you then”

“Have a good night, Anna”

“You too, bye!”

“Bye!”

She hung up and threw herself into her sister’s arms with a giddy squeal. She had gotten herself a date with Kristoff Bjorgman.

 


End file.
